Vertical opener for cleaning cotton



Oct. 23, 1923.

J. K. WHITTIER ET AL I VERTICAL OPENER FOR CLEANING COTTON Filed June 30. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l- ,2 2 1/11 9 ntors z azw Oct. 23, 1923. 1,471,435

J. K. WHlTTlER ET AL VERTICAL OPENER FOR CLEANING COTTON tors:

w Ill Wu 1 lhl% 0 2 o. nr ul l m g .2 M w u d \l e I 1 I 1 F Joint KLWHITTIER AND ROBERTS. crusrnrornownnn aiassacnusnrrs, a-ssrsiions T sAcosLoWELnsEors, or LOWELL, raessacnusnr'rs, A conronnr'ron or Massavnnrrcan omen EOE'CLEANING (Jo Tron;

Application filed June 30, 1822, Serial 110.57.2'352,

To all whom it may concern.

7 Be it known that we, J OHN K. Wnrr'rmn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Ron nnr S. Courier, a citizen 7 of the United States, residing in said Lowell, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vertical Openers for Cleaning Cotton, of

which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to provide.

V over the grid surface the stock isopened and much of the sand, leaf, seeds and loose dirt is removed, and falls through the openings in the grid into the bottom of the machine.

Our invention consists in the construction, a preferred embod1ment of which shown in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a partial sectional view of machine; 7

Fig. 2 is a vertical section (broken in two) on the lines 2, 2, Fig. 4;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the lower half of Fig. 2; and I 4 Fig. 4 is atop plan view of one-quarter section of the grid. In the drawings, 1 is a cubical wall or housing with a cover 2. Near the bottomof the housing is the supporting frame or girt 3, which carries the, thrust bearing 4111 which is revolvably mounted the vertical shaft 5,

which has a hearing at 6 and abelt pulley 7 by which the shaft can be revolved; At 8 is an inlet pipe through which the cotton is fed into the machine. The supporting frame 3 carries the casting 9 which formsthe base or support for the grid 10, and which has an opening' 11 to which the inlet pipe 8 is attached. 1 Bolted to a flange '12 of cast-i ing 9 is a circular plate 13, which, asfshown" in Fig. 3, has its outer circumference notched as at 14:. The top of the housingisaformed' In passing the" cover- 2 is fitted and which with the cover with fa' circular'casting 15 on which the i forms the outlet chamber 16, with an open- I ing 1-7 to. which the outlet pipe 18 is attached. To the bottom face of casting 15 is fastened the circular plate '19 which has slots 14" in whichfit the tops of bars 23, hereinafter de scribed. Plates13 and 19 are preferably made in sections and are thereby more easily handled and cast. The shaft 5 carries a, s'eriesof discs 20 at varying heights within the grid 10, and to these disc's are "attached steel blades or fingers21 which are'bent to form agspiral from bottom to top.

At a suitable distance above the top of the grid, theshaft 5 carries a fan 22.- The fan is revolved at high speed, creating a suction within the grid bywhich the cotton stock, assisted by the revolvingblades 21, is drawn in a spiral path from the inlet'll, across the surface ofthe gridin the direction of the arrow through the outlet 18. 'Heretofore the grid in openers of the (Figs. 3 and l) anddelivered' character here shown and described has been formed in various ways. Sometimes the en tire grid wall has been made of perforated metal. Another common form of grid has" consisted of bars which are triangular in cross-section and which are tapered, being larger at the top than at the'bottom. It

is desirablethat the "spaces or openings be tween the bars shall besubstantially the same size, and that each opening shall be substantially uniform in cross-section from top to bottom. To obtain this result in a cone-- shapedfgrid made up of bars, the bars must taper from top tobottom, since the top of the grid is of greater circumference than the bottom. A perforated metal grid gives 7 good results for certain classes ofwork, but under many conditionsit is not entirely adequate. Moreover, it is not adjustable. A grid made up of. tapered bars has certain disadvantages. Inorder'toprovide for a sufficient number of'openings between bars to do the work of the machine adequately, the bars cannot be too large. If'the' bars emerge size to provide for an adequate number of openings,- the lower ends ofthe bar's quite; smaii', 'with the result that they are soweali-at the pointwhere they are subij ect to'the greatest strain from theffpressurel r 0f theincoming cotton which has not been 'departing from our invention.

irn 1,471,435

completely opened, that they are apt to bend at their lower ends. Moreover, it is dificult to properly seat and hold fast such small lower ends and they are not readily capable of being'moved or rotated by mechanical means in order to be adjusted.

We have found'tliat a useful grid can be made by alternating sections of bars which are not tapered but uniform in size from top to bottom with metal sections or inserts. Referring to the drawings, the non-tapered grid bars are shown at 23 and are preferably triangular in cross-section,- as shown in Fig. 3. The broadened or base portions of these triangular bars fit into the notches .14; andslots 14: in. the plates 13 and 19. The first bar to'be placed will be perpendirular and willform an 'ele nient of the cone. But to make each opening between the bars substantially uniform in cross-section from top to bottom, the succeeding bars can not be placed so as to form elements of the cone, but they must CllVGl B from such cone element position, the bars on one side of thefirst bar divergprogressively in one direction and the bars on the other side divergingprogressively in an opposite direction. This'progressive divergence of the bars must be compensated for,and preferably we compensate for it by the insertion of a number of triangular-shaped metal sections 24'. As shown in the drawings. we preferably use four such metal sections, each quarter section of the grid, therefore, consisting of a section of bars of uniform cross-section and the triangular metal insert. The number of metal inserts may be varied without Also it is ordinarily desirable that the metal sections should be perforated so that they may contribute to'the cleaning power of the grid. 7 While we have shown and described the bars as being substantially uniform in cross-section, grid bars might be made which are not uniform incross-section throughout without departing from our in 'vention, provided the working face of each bar is of substantially uniform width from top to bottom. By working face we mean that surface portion of the bar which faces .he interior of the grid. Also, of course, he liars need not be triangular incross ection although such triangular bars are "referred.

It is desirable that the rakefof grid bars of thegeneral character here shown should be adjustable.

Experience has shown for instance that when triangular-shaped bars in a grid of this character are in the full line portion, (Fig. 3) a substantial amount'of dirt and leaf win be detached from the fibres as they passv over the grid, and that when the bars are raked as shown in the dotted line position (Fig. 3) there is an increased amount of dirt and leaf, more especially large unbroken leaf, removed from the fibres, and also a substantial number of very short 'ibres, unfit for spinning purposes, are detached from the mass of cotton and will fall with the dirt and leaf. The position of the bars depends upon the desires and requirements of'the individual manufacturer, and upon the character and quality of the cotton which is being cleanse A preferred method of adjustment of the grid bars may be provided for by adjust ment plates. 25: and 2a, preferablymade in sections. Each section consists of a lower plate 24 which is bolted. at 25 to the top outer edge of plate 13 and spaced therefrom by a boss 26. Plate 2-fl has two handles 27, 27, and slot 28, in which the bolt 25 slides to permit the plate 2% to, be moved with elation to plate 13. The inside edge of late 24: has triangular notches 29 which engage the pointed edges of bars 23, as

shown in Fig. 3. Similarly bolted to the under side of top plate 19 are plates 2% 2) which have triangular notches 30, siots'3l and handles 32, the notches 30 engaging the pointed edges of bars 23-near 1' he top thereof.

To adjust and alter the rake of the bars, fastenings are loosened and plates 24: and 2a are moved, for. instance, to the right 3), which swings the bars 23 on points 323 as pivots to the dotted line position (Fig.

We believe it desirable that different groups of bars should be capable of adjustment to varying degrees, independent of other groups. For this purpose, and also because it makes for accuracy of adjustment, we prefer to make the adjustment plates in reasonably small sections. We have shown in the drawings two such plates for each quarter section, both at the-top and at the bottom.

Each metal'section 2a is made fast at its lower end by a screw and each metal section has at its top projecting lugs 35 which into slots 36 in top plate 19. These triangular-shaped metal sections may be readily removed bysimply removing the screw 34.; and lifting the section until the bottom end can be swung out from beyond the bottom plate 13. This gives easy access to the interior of the 'id without removing the bars or CliStUlJlIlg the adjustment thereof.

hat we claim is 1. In a machine of the character described aconical. grid having spaced grid bars all of which extend from top to bottom of the grid, the working face of each bar being substantially uniform in. width throughout itsflengtl -each space between bars being substantially uniform in width llll I bottom to turn in sa1 plates adj ustablyattached to said supporting,

from a cone element position.

2. In a machine of the character described a conical grid made up-in part of substantially triangular shaped plates or inserts and in part of spaced grid bars, the workingface of each bar being substantially uniform'in width throughout its length and extending from top to bottom of the grid. f

3. In a machine of the character described a conical grid made up in part of substantially triangular shaped plates or inserts and in part of spaced grid bars, "the working face of each bar being substantially uniform in width throughout'its length and extending from top to bottom of the grid and each space between bars being substantially uniform in Width throughout its length.

4:. In a machine of the character described a conical grid made up in part of perforated plates or inserts and in part of spaced grid bars, each bar having a working face uniform in width throughout its length, each space between bars being substantially uniform in width throughout its length, and means for varying the spaced distance between bars.

5. In a machine of the character'describeda conical grid made up in part of plates or inserts and in part of spaced grid bars, the Working face of each bar being substantially uniform in width throughout its length, each space between bars being substantially uniform in width throughout its length, and

means for varyingthe spaced distance between the bars of a group of bars-independently of the other bars.

6. In a machine of the character described a grid made up in part ofplates or inserts and in part of spaced bars, each bar having a working face substantially uniform in width throughout its length, top and bottom supporting plates, each plate having recesses, said bars being ositioned at top and d recesses, adjustment plates and engaging said bars, means for moving said adjustment plates and thereby turning the bars which they engage.

I 7. In a machine of the character described a conical grid made up of a plurality of triangular shaped perforated plates or inserts alternating with a pluralityofseries of spaced bars, each bar having'a working face substantially uniform in width throughout its length and running from top to bottom of the grid, each space'between'bars being substantially uniform in width throughout its length, and means for adjusting the rake of said bars and the spaced distancebetween them.

8. In a machine of the character described a grid made up of a plurality of triangular shaped inserts alternating with a plurality of series of spaced bars, the working face or each bar being substantially iUJlIfOI'IIl in width throughout its length and 1 running from top to bottom of the grid, and each space between bars being-substantiallyuniform in Width throughout its length.

9. In a machine of the character described a grid made up of a plurality of triangular shaped inserts alternating with a plurality of series of spaced bars, each bar being substantially triangular and uniform in cross-section throughout its length, and

each space between bars being substantially uniform in width throughout its length.

10. In a machine of the character de-' scribed a grid comprising top and bottom plates of different diameters, non-tapering bars engaged at top and bottom by said plates and spaced apart, triangular shaped metal sections positioned at intervals between said plates and between sections of said barsand having top lugs which engage in recesses in said top plate, adjustment plates adjustably fastened to saidtop and bottom plates and engaging said bars whereby said adjustment plates maybe moved relative to said top and bottom plates and thereby move said bars as and for the purpose described.

11. In a machine of the character described an inverted cone-shaped grid comprising top and bottom circular plates or V I different diameters, each plate notches'in its outer circumference and the top plate having recesses therein, between said plates triangular shaped metal sections alternating with sections, made up of nontapering bars, said bars engaging in said notches and said metal sections having lugs which engage in said recesses, adjustment plates adjustably fastened to said top and bottom plates and having notches to engage said bars, means for moving said ad justment plates relative to said .top and bot-- tom plates thereby altering the position of the bars which they engage, as and forthe purpose described. a

In witness whereof, we have slgned our names to-the foregoingspecification in the presence of two witnesses.

- JOHN K. WHITTIER.

Witnesses:

Wnrrrnn HowAn'r'H,

Fumx D. LANGEVIN.

having ROBERT s. URLEY, 

